


Birthday Girl

by LolMouse



Series: Side Stories [6]
Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Birthday, Comedy, Established Relationship, F/F, Friday The Thirteenth, Gen, In continuity with Raven Bound, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-13
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:07:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21783442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LolMouse/pseuds/LolMouse
Summary: The Titans realize they don't know Jinx's birthday.
Relationships: Jinx/Raven (DCU)
Series: Side Stories [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1252961
Comments: 10
Kudos: 90





	Birthday Girl

“It’s almost Friday the Thirteenth,” Cyborg said excitedly, “and y’all know what that means!”

“Scary movie night!” said Beast Boy, nearly throwing his video game controller from sheer exuberance.

Jinx glanced over from her spot on the Titans’ sofa, inspecting her nails. She was trying on a new nail polish. “That’s this week, huh?”

“Oh, dude!” Beast Boy was practically bouncing on the cushions. “That must be like a special day for you or something! It’s bad luck central!”

Jinx smiled softly. “Something like that.”

Just then, Starfire and Raven walked into the living room. “...Just because I have a mental connection with Robin doesn’t mean I know what he wants for his birthday, Starfire.”

“But you understand him better than most of us! The day of birth is an important ceremony on Earth! I wish to give to him something special!”

“...And you know I’m not fond of birthdays.”

Starfire made a little noise. “Oh no! I am sorry!”

“Since when do we know when Robin’s birthday is?” asked Cyborg, busily browsing the latest scary movie releases in a magazine. “He’s so private I’m not even sure black is his real hair color!”

“He doesn’t want us all to know,” Raven said. “Starfire managed to get it out of him, and she won’t even tell me.”

“I made the promise to him,” she nodded. “But I do so love celebrating the day of birth! Beast Boy’s party was very enjoyable, and memorable!”

“I’ll say,” Jinx muttered, narrowing her eyes at her nails. “I didn’t even know you could invite zoo animals. We’re still finding feathers around the place.”

“You just gotta know the right people,” Beast Boy said, puffing out what little chest he had. “And animals count!”

Jinx’s and Raven’s mutual eyerolls went unnoticed as Cyborg spoke. “Come to think of it, we’ve celebrated my birthday, Beast Boy had his zoo party, we did some math to find Starfire’s birthday, Raven has her thing, Robin hides his because he’s Robin… Why do I feel like we’re missing something?”

Slowly, every eye in the room turned towards Jinx. Jinx stared right back.

“What?” She demanded.

“Dude,” Beast Boy said. “When IS your birthday?”

Jinx blew softly on the nail she was working on. “Friday the Thirteenth.”

Beast Boy’s eyes widened comically again. “Whoah, Seriously?! That’s so cool!”

Cyborg ruffled his green head of hair. “She’s joking, beansprout. Friday the Thirteenth happens at a different time every year. She might have been born on one for all I know, but birthdays don’t move around.”

“Maybe mine does,” Jinx said, applying a coat to her index finger. 

“Friend Jinx,” Starfire said, gliding to sit next to the pink witch. “It is quite alright if you are not comfortable sharing it with us…”

Jinx took in Starfire’s body language. “But let me guess: You’d really love it if I did?”

Starfire’s smile overtook her entire face and she nodded.

Jinx smiled back. “I already did. Friday the Thirteenth.”

“Oh, do you actually mean your birthday is this friday?” Cyborg looked deeply confused.

“No. I mean, any Friday the Thirteenth.”

Cyborg’s confusion looked like it was about to make him bluescreen internally. “B-but wait, sometimes it happens twice in a year!”

“So I celebrate twice,” Jinx said, finishing off a coat on her last nail. “Lucky me.”

“DUDE! You can just decide to do that? Why can’t I do that!”

“We’re not throwing you another birthday party, you little twerp!” Cyborg and Beast Boy tussled for a few moments on the sofa.

“But how did this come to be, Jinx?” Starfire seemed no less confused than Cyborg. “Is there some magic spell that allows this?”

Raven flew over to sit by Jinx’s other side. “...You don’t have to explain this,” she said softly.

Jinx looked at her, then shrugged. “It’s not like it’s painful, and everyone else might as well know. I celebrate my birthday on Friday the Thirteenth every time it comes up because I don’t know when I was actually born.”

“Oh wow,” Beast Boy said softly. “That sucks.”

“Not really. And celebrating twice some years is just a little bonus. I learned a long time ago that I have to make my own luck.” She frowned at her handiwork.

Starfire’s eyes were practically brimming with tears. “Oh, Jinx!”

Jinx daintily patted Starfire’s head, keeping her nails clear. “There, there, it’s fine.”

“Guess we’re having ourselves a scary movie birthday on friday!” said Cyborg, accidentally knocking his knee on the table. Everyone looked at the little bottle of nail polish sail improbably into the air as if in slow motion, only to land straight in Jinx’s lap, spilling its entire contents.

“Oh dang. I’m so sorry!”

Jinx sighed and retrieved a tissue to clean up the worst of it from her dress. “It’s fine. I wasn’t really liking the color anyway.” She got up and made to leave the common room. “I’m gonna go change and have a nap. You really don’t have to do anything special on friday for me. I’ll make my own fun.”

She left, and it took a long moment before anyone spoke.

“You guys,” Beast Boy said. “We HAVE to do something special for her.”

“...I have a bad feeling about this,” Raven said, as Starfire and Cyborg both lit up with excitement.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“Okay, everyone clear on the plan?” Cyborg painted a finger at the whiteboard, using it as a laser pointer.

Raven didn’t look up from her book. “Robin takes Jinx on what’s supposedly a stakeout,” she drawled. “We use the time to gather our party supplies, set everything up, bake the cake and confirm the invites before calling them back for an ‘emergency’.”

Cyborg nodded. “Star is on decorations, you and me are on cake and snack duty, and the twerp handles getting the movies and checking on the invites.”

“Maaan, why do I get the boring job?”

“...No one likes hair in their cake, Beast Boy.” Raven took Starfire’s rising hand without looking and gently put it down again, shaking her head. “Besides, we already sent the invitations. You’re just double checking.”

Cyborg checked the time. “Robin should be fetching her right about…”

His communicator blared, and he opened it. “Cyborg here.”

“I’ve got a lead I need to follow up on and I’m bringing Jinx,” came Robin’s voice. “You’ve got the run of the place while we’re gone.”

“Cool. Good luck, man.” He switched it off. “That’s our cue, everyone! Booyah!”

Beast Boy let out a pained groan.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“See, Raven? I told you it wouldn’t be too bad.”

“...I’m still having a bad feeling about today.”

“It’s working out fine! We got the snacks, Star is off looking at party supplies, and everything we need for a cake is right here!”

“No, Cyborg, you don’t understand,” Raven said, more insistently. “I have a bad feeling. A prophetic feeling. A feeling about the future.”

“The last time you had that feeling you disappeared in the middle of a sentence and came back with a new girlfriend a week later.”

“...It wasn’t that easy,” she said defensively. “But point taken.”

Just then, Cyborg’s communicator rang a little tune. He opened a panel on his arm. “Cyborg here.”

“Oh, Cyborg! It is a disaster! They have sold out completely of all day of birth supplies! And I am told there are no more in the city! There has been a shortage and they say a truck carrying more had an accident today that made the highway very festive!”

“...Yeah, here we go,” said Raven, nodding knowingly.

“What? Girl, what are the chances of the entire city being out of birthday supplies?”

“I do not know! But it is true!”

“Well, what about buying some craft paper and making our own decorations?”

“Oh! What a wonderful idea! Thank you, Cyborg!” Starfire ended the communication.

“...What are the chances,” Raven said smugly. “Did you forget who we’re shopping for, and on what day?”

“Raven, I know Jinx has some bad luck, but this seems a little too much even for her.”

Just then, Cyborg’s comm sang its tune again. “Dude!” came Beast Boy’s voice. “The entire scary movie shelf is empty at the rental place! Someone spilled soda on all of them!”

Cyborg glanced at Raven, his expression growing more horrified.

“Don’t underestimate Jinx,” Raven said.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“So Robin,” Jinx said into the communicator built into her customized pink helmet. “Do we drop the pretense now?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” came Robin’s voice back, as he turned onto the highway on his yellow motorcycle.

Jinx tightened her arms around his waist, only half to keep herself steady at Robin’s back. “I know what the others are planning, bird boy.”

“I see. How did you find out?”

“Beast Boy left the invitations out in the open. No one has to be a detective around that kid.”

“That sounds about right,” came Robin’s rueful reply. “Personally, I wanted to respect your wishes.”

“Never doubted you. So, wanna stop at some place for a coffee and donuts? Seems more fun than a fake stakeout.”

“Sounds good to-” Robin’s voice was interrupted by an alarm in both of their helmets. A little heads-up display showed them both an image. “Scratch that. We just got a lead for real.”

Jinx glared at the image in her visor, noting the license plate number on it. “Who’s this guy?”

“He works for a new crime lord operating in Jump City,” said Robin. “And he’s in that red corvette up ahead. I’ve been looking for clues about this new threat for months.”

“Great. Guess we’re doing this.” She tightened her arms around Robin again as he sped up. A window on the corvette opened and a weapon poked out, shooting a beam of light in their direction. Robin juked out of the way just in time, and Jinx snapped her fingers. The gun fell apart in a shower of pink sparks. 

“I can’t risk disabling the car, Robin! It might crash too badly!”

Robin growled. “Hang on!” The corvette sped up and turned into a closed-off section of the highway, and Robin pursued as close as he could.

  
  
  
  


“...Starfire,” Raven said, looking at what the alien girl was carrying. “What happened to buying craft paper to make our own birthday decorations?”

“They were very low on the paper of crafting,” Starfire explained, trying not to drop her load as she pushed it into the T-car. “These were plentiful and cheap.”

“Yeah, I bet Halloween decorations are cheap out of season,” Raven said distastefully, shaking her head at the paper bats. “At least Jinx loves that stuff.”

Beast Boy flew down from above and morphed back into his usual shape. “You guys, there’s a huge problem!”

“Now what?” Cyborg looked at him from the drivers’ seat.

“I had a bad feeling so I checked on Kid Flash and Mas and Menos. Apparently they all got tied up too long for them to actually deliver the invitations in time! Like, literally tied up! Mumbo Jumbo trapped them in his hat!”

“Yo, what? Are they okay?”

“They’re out now, but their powers are out of whack for a bit. Not even they can make it!”

“And it’s too close to party time for us to just do an all-Titans signal,” Cyborg said. “Robin would kill us for misusing it, too. Guess it’s just us.”

“...And we now have a year’s worth of snacks and cake supplies,” added Raven, pointing to the blue-circuited trailer full of food they’d attached to the car.

“Too much is better than too little! This party is still on!”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Bundles of party hats, streamers and confetti flew into the air in the Corvette’s wake as it swerved past the fallen truck. The various decorations became entangled on every available surface of the Titans’ clothes and bike.

“Did someone throw the party of the century here?” quipped Jinx.

“This party is about to be over,” Robin replied, prompting Jinx to groan.

He flicked a switch on the bike’s handlebar, and a panel opened up on its front. He aimed and flicked it again, shooting a batarang right into one of the car’s rear wheels. It clanged right off of it and into the road.

“Reinforced tires!” Robin tried to swerve around the batarang as it clattered back towards them, but at the last second it bounced at just the wrong angle, slashing open the bike’s front tire. Robin managed to hold the bike steady just long enough to shoot a grapple up into the bridge’s supports, saving them from a bad tumble as the bike hit the road with a metallic screech.

“Oh come on,” Jinx said, holding on to him for dear life, noting the way they were swinging. “You can’t seriously mean to swing onto-”

She didn’t get a chance to finish the sentence. The momentum of their swing carried them just far enough to land hard on the Corvette’s roof, jarring them both hard.

“Have I told you lately that you’re the wrong kind of crazy, Robin?”

He didn’t reply, instead retrieving a smoke bomb from his belt. The corvette’s window opened again, another weapon poking out, and Robin used the chance to toss it inside. The car quickly started swerving as the driver lost vision.

“Hey, Robin? Did you remember that _we are still on the car_?”

“At least this time we’ve had practice,” he said, taking out his grapple again.

“Uggghhh.” She put her arms around Robin’s neck. “Fine! You explain it to Raven when I don’t make it back!”

The swing this time was much less dangerous. The car slowed down, but not enough to avoid crashing into the side of the bridge. Four men emerged from it, coughing and wheezing from the smoke, and Robin and Jinx made short work of them.

“So,” Jinx said, surveying them as they tied them up. “I can’t help but notice our suspect isn’t here.”

Robin grabbed one of the crooks by the collar. “Where is the owner of this car?”

“Whaddya talkin’ about? I bought this car a month ago!”

Robin stood still for a moment, then let go. “Damnit,” he whispered under his breath, still loud enough for the helmet comm to pick it up.

Jinx took her helmet off, shaking her hair loose. She swept her fingers through it, allowing a bit of her magic to emerge, and it went back to its familiar horned shape. “So basically we just took down a vicious gang of legal car owners?”

Robin kicked the misshapen trunk. It opened to reveal quite a lot of extra laser weapons. “And not so legal weapon smugglers,” he said.

“...You had no way of knowing that before we stopped them,” Jinx said, narrowing her eyes.

Robin just took off his helmet and gave her a small satisfied smile.

“You are just the worst,” she muttered, but with no real force behind it. Robin called in the authorities to pick the gang up as they walked back to the bike. “So, does your motorcycle have a spare tire somehow?”

“No.” He picked it up and winced at the damage. “The tire shouldn’t have blown at all. They’re reinforced just like on that car. We just got very unlucky.”

“Around me? Today? Surely not.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Robin, it’s me. It’s fine. Guess we call for a pickup?”

Robin flicked his communicator open and tried to select Cyborg. There was no response. He tried the others, to no effect. He took a closer look at it. The back of it was cracked open.

“Can you try yours, Jinx?”

Jinx grabbed at where her communicator usually hung. It wasn’t there.”Uh, if we can find it?”

“It must have fallen off when we landed on the car,” Robin said. “And mine must have broken then too.” He took out a little scanner from a hidden compartment on the bike and turned it on. It pinged when he pointed it out towards the water.

“Guess we’re not getting it back then,” said Jinx. She stood there awkwardly, holding her arm, her tone flat. She didn’t meet Robin’s gaze.

“Then we walk,” Robin said.

“...Robin, this is all my fault-”

“We knew what we were doing when we took you on, Jinx. We’ve all been through things like this before, powers going wild or not. And the Titans have always done it together.” He held his hand out insistently.

Jinx looked him in the eye-mask, then down at his hand, and took it. “Thanks,” she said sheepishly.

He released her hand and raised the motorcycle up awkwardly. “Besides, your girlfriend would destroy me if I treated you unfairly.”

“That she would,” Jinx said, taking the bike’s other side, and they pushed it awkwardly together.

  
  
  
  
  
  


Amazingly, nothing else had gone wrong in the Tower. Starfire and Beast Boy had put up the decorations, complete with a banner saying ‘Happy Halloween’ with ‘Halloween’ hastily replaced with crude letters spelling ‘Birthday’. Cyborg and Raven had baked a big cake topped with pink whipped cream and pink marzipan, and the snacks had been laid out - even though there was no movie.

Cyborg was happy right up until Robin didn’t answer his calls.

“Where the heck are they? They’re a full hour late! Why won’t either of them pick up?”

“...Should me and Starfire go on patrol for them?”

“Why aren’t you more worried, Raven? What if something happened to them?”

“I’d know if something happened to Jinx.”

“But-”

“I’d _know_.” The room darkened slightly for a moment, and her eyes let out a faint white glow.

Cyborg gulped. “Uh. Noted.”

An alert pinged on his arm, and he opened a panel. He stared at the image he saw. “Uh, guys? You’re gonna want to see this.” He pointed his hand at the TV and projected the image into it.

On a security camera outside the underground tunnel leading to the tower, a glittery and streamered Jinx waved cheerfully at the lens. Robin stood there, his arms crossed, also oddly decorated. They flanked a damaged bike from which hung dirty and torn party hats of various sizes.

Beast Boy gasped. “Dude, no fair! They had a party without us!”

“...I’ll go buzz them in,” Raven said, disappearing into a sudden pool of shadow.

It didn’t take long for them to return to the living room. Starfire squealed when she saw Jinx and flew over to give her a bone-crunching hug.

“Happy day of your birth, Jinx!”

“Thanks,” Jinx said, her voice strained. She looked around the room, half taking in how bizarre it was, half loving it unironically. “Love the decor. Whose idea was this?”

“Let us say it was mine,” said Starfire, embarrassed. “Raven said you would like it. What happened with you and Robin?”

“Long story,” said Robin, carrying a box under his arm and several dirty party hats. “I’m guessing you all have a long story too.”

“Doesn’t matter!” said Cyborg. “We’re all here, and we can get this party started!”

Raven emerged from a shadow on the floor. This startled Starfire slightly, who bumped into Beast Boy. Her super strength pushed Beast Boy harder than one might expect.

Everyone looked at the green teen sail improbably into the air as if in slow motion, only to land face-first in the birthday cake.

Jinx took in the scene and tried to contain her laughter. When Beast Boy stood up, covered in cake and cream, cleaning himself like a cat, she couldn’t hold it in anymore. She laughed so hard she nearly doubled over

Starfire smiled and flew over to Jinx. “There is nothing so bad that we cannot make the most of it,” she said.

Jinx smiled and gave her a hug.

“And I can eat the hairy bits!” she added happily.

“You do you, Star.” Jinx took in Cyborg’s shell-shocked and defeated look. “Cheer up, tin man. This is still the best Friday the Thirteenth party I’ve ever had.”

Cyborg blinked as his brain rebooted. “Wait, seriously?”

Jinx nodded and put a filthy party hat on his head. “You did a good job.”

Robin put down the box he was holding. “I anticipated something like this might happen,” he said, “so I prepared this.” He opened it.

Inside was a store-bought cake, perfectly ordinary, not themed to Jinx at all, on which were written the words ‘Happy Birthday Jenks.’ Robin looked taken aback. “I was sure I spelled it right for them,” he grumbled.

Jinx nearly doubled over laughing again. “Is this a bad time to point out you all forgot to get me presents?” The entire room groaned.

They made the most of it as they could. They ate, they joked around, and they watched an obscure Italian horror film from Jinx’s personal collection which Beast Boy swore was the scariest thing he’d ever seen. And for the rest of the night, Jinx didn’t leave Raven’s side.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Later that night, Raven emerged onto the roof of the Tower. She walked over to where Jinx was sitting, looking out at sea. She sat down next to her, and Jinx silently held her hand.

They savored the moment together for a while.

“Today was… better than I expected,” Jinx said suddenly.

Raven tightened her grip on Jinx’s hand.

“You know how I am. I’ve always thought I’d last maybe up until my twenties and then go out with a bang. Just a pink splatter on some road somewhere.”

“...I know,” Raven said. “And today is usually pretty bad for you, isn’t it?”

“It’s just superstition,” Jinx said. “Maybe I unconsciously make it worse every Friday the Thirteenth. It’s not like the day itself is magically special. It’s just that symbols have power when you’re magic, whether you like it or not.”

“But you still celebrate your birthday every Friday the Thirteenth.”

“It’s… I mean, it’s more like a sick joke for me. You know? One more year until I inevitably run out of luck completely. And you know what trying to hold a party for me is like now. It’s always been like that. My old crew only tried once. I guess part of me just takes that self-destructive urge and tries to turn it into a self-fulfilling prophecy every time I realize I’m a year older.”

Jinx moved herself closer, leaning her head on Raven’s shoulder. Raven wrapped her cloak around them both in response.

“But today… I mean, you’re all so great. You really did your best. And we had fun. It was… nice. I could get used to that.”

“...Someone really smart once told me that we have to make our own luck,” Raven said, holding Jinx closer.

Jinx said nothing, opting to fully sit in Raven’s lap and bury her face in her neck.

“Happy birthday, Jinx. The first of many to come.” Raven sealed her words with a soft kiss.


End file.
